218 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



/an. 2S, I831J 



among the boldest defenders of Grecian and Ro- 

 man liberties. 



The three prevailing kinds of soil in this coun- 

 ty are a light, loose soil, where sand is the princ 



custom— has not only taught us the theory, but I The surface of tlieso low .'rounds is .renei 

 has enabled us to realize the pleasure of fruitful of a spongy, loose texture, so open and po* 

 gardens, of smiling fields and luxuriant harvests, that the small roots of the upland grasses cai 

 lam confident the sincerity of my motives will , fill the holes or cavities between the pans, and 

 pal ingredient,— bogs or swamp land, abounding 1 not be questioned, when 1 recommend the sound , earth not adhering close to the small fibrous n 

 in peat, and decayed vegetable and animal substan- | practical lessons of its enlightened editor, to the : they can derive iro nourishment from it U. 

 ces,— and a thin, gravelly loam. These shall, each constant perusal, not only of farmers, but to we see that these .^rounds while in a state of ' 



in its turn, receive a brief notice. 



The principal ingredients in a good soil are 



every friend of rural economy. 



The second variety of soil, which we shall no- 



fjre, produce little else than brakes, helh ! 

 pothos or skunk cabbage, and some others w 



. ,, , . . ,,.,,)'- - ' ■— - 1- t— . ....^......o. .t^oa'se roots are capable of filling the pores 



of these, when existing separately, is found to be These are daily becoming better known, and their I vacant spaces, and finding nourishment anion. 



sand, clay and lime or calcareous earth. Either tjce, is the low, wet swamps an,l peat meadows. 



incapable of supporting vegetation ; it is only by 

 a due and proper combination of them, that a pro- 

 ductive soil is formed. 



The loose and open texture of a sandy soil 

 greatly facilitates evaporation. It therefore requires 

 a retentive, tenacious substance, to bind tlie parts 

 together, and thereby to retard the evaporation of 

 moisture, and the volatile parts of such animal and 

 vegetable substances os may he mixed with it. 

 Cky has been found to be the best adapted to 

 this purpose. It has been ascertained that eleven 

 parts of sand and one of clay will form a soil ca- 

 pable of supporting vegetation, but the more nearly 

 equal the parts of each, the better will be the soil. 

 By a judicious blending of these opposite quahties 

 of the earth, the Messrs Wellington, two very 

 skilful and enterprising farmers of the town of 

 Medford, have converted their sandy barrens, and 

 stiff, unyielding clays into rich, friable soils, of as- 

 tonishing fertility. After making liberal applica- 

 tions of manure, witli but little effect, they have 

 resorted to their sand banks and their clay pits, 

 and, by an alternate application of each to the 

 other, they have found them to be mines of wealth. 

 I mention this fact, not only as illustrative of my 

 position, but as a striking instance of the benefi- 

 cial effects of the application of skill, acquired 

 from study, combined with practical experiments, 

 which has resulted in a great increase of crops, 

 attended by an actual saving in expense. For al- 

 though these gentlemen may not be desirous of 

 being styled 'Book Farmers,^ yet they are no 

 doubt reading and thinking, as well as practical 

 cultivators. Books, I am aware, are a most dis- 

 trustful source of information among many of my 

 agricultural brethren. This ought not so to be. 

 While the professors and friends of all the other 

 arts and sciences, call to their aid the light and ac- 

 cumulated ivritten wisdom of the past and present 

 ages, why should the art of cultivating the earth, 

 by far the most important of all the arts, be al- 

 lowed no other guide than blind tradition .' 



To what are we attributing the recent rapid 

 advances in agricultural knowledge ? What has 

 enabled the farmer to iliscovcr new sources of 

 wealth and pleasure? What has staid the wast- 

 ing mania for emigration, and taught our young 

 men, that from a New England soil, and a New 

 England fireside, more substantial comforts may 

 lie ilerived, than can be found 'beyond the moun- 

 tains ?' What, I say, has done all this, but books, 

 and the scientific communications of literary 

 men, who have devoted their wealth and their 

 talents to lighten the burdens and increase the 

 stores of the farmer .' 



Allow me, while on this subject, to advert to 

 one source of information, which has been, in" no 

 small degree, instrumental in producing these fa- 

 vorable results. I mean the various jjeriodical 

 publications of the day. At the head of these 

 stands the New England Farmer. This has done 

 much to arrest the withering power of ancient 



value more justly appreciated. The mud of ! tl'sconnected [larts. 

 swamps, which contains no peat, is composed most- I planted a small patch of corn, the last se.- 

 ly of decayed vegetable and animal substances, "PO" a piece of loose, spongy, peat soil, \\ 

 which having not been immersed in stagnant wa- ''"d I'eeii newly |)loiiglied. It grew well as 

 ters, but having been exposed to the action of the U^ '!'« blade was nourished by the kernel, 

 atmosphere, or the oxygen which it contains, have ^vhen this was exhausted, it assumed a sickl; 

 passed through a putrid fermentation, and there- | pearance, and hardly found nutriment ennug 

 by reduced to a rich, black mould, susceptible, preserve its existence liirough the summer, 

 after draining, of being converted, into very pro- | was not owing to a want of nourishing matt 

 ductive soil. Peat grounds are composed princi- ''le soil, as was evident from the exuberant gn 

 pally of vegetable and animal substances, which, "f pumpkins and potatoes in the immeiliate v 

 havigig been immersed in stagnant waters, and I ''y of the corn, but because the small fibrous 

 thereby excluded from the action of the atmo- o*" the latter could not find it, while the C( 

 sphere, have not undergone a [lutrid fermentation, ■ '"oo's of pumpkins and potatoes filled tl.e j 

 and therefore still contain the acids, oils and ' "Dft cavities between the parts of the soil, an 



gums, and m some instances, the sulphate of iron 

 or copperas, and other antiseptic qualities, com- 

 mon to vegetables. These properties must be re- 

 moved or neutralized by a combination with other 

 substances, before peat can become food for plants, 

 either when subjected to field culture, or when it 

 is to be used as a manure. Exposure to the iiir, 

 when combined with a sufficient degree of mois- 

 ture to prevent its becoming dry, orif when taken 

 from the pit, it is spread upon the ground, and ex- 

 posed to severe frost, or by mixing it with lime or 

 fresh stable dung, either will break down its coarse, 

 vegetable fibre, destroy its antiseptic properties, 

 and render it a valuable manure. Observing the 

 effects of peal upon upland, where it had been 

 spread for the purpose of drying it for fuel, I was 

 nduced to try it as a top dressing for grass, and 

 found it to answer a valuable end, particularly if 

 taken out in winter and spread upon the ground 

 so thin as to admit of its freezing. When to be 

 used for making comjiost. Lord Meadowbank re- 

 commends one load of fresh stable dung, to three of 

 peat; a layer of dung from six to ten inches in 

 thickness, to be |(laced between layers of peat, 

 raising the pile by alternate layers four or six feet 

 high, and allowing the whole to remain until it 

 shall have fermented. I tried this plan for two 

 seasons, but frequently found that the dung was 

 injured, by too great heat, while the peat seemed 

 but little benefited by the fermentation. I have 

 since adopted the \>]an of mixing the whole mass 

 finely together, and have found the dung less in- 

 jured by the fermentation, and the peat more 

 equally operated upon, and more finely pulver- 

 ized. 



The first step to be taken, in the process of re- 

 claiming these swamps and peat meadow grounds, 

 is to drain them thoroughly ; unless this can be 

 accomplished, all the labor and expense bestowed 

 will, after a short time, prove to be useless. The 

 method pursued by the most experienced cultiva- 

 tors, is to cut a ditch through the centre, another 

 at the margin or outer edge, (the most essential 

 part of the operation,) to take oft' the water which 

 is constantly setting in from the surrounding up- 

 lands, with cross drains from this to the centre 

 ditch. 



ing brought in contact, derived suHicient nou 

 ment from them. The same effect may b. 

 served upon a heap of coarse manure ; jdar 

 small, delicate roots refuse to grow, while the 

 coarser roots grow wiili wonderful luxuriaiii 

 In order then to make this speices of soil 

 ductive, something must be done after drai 

 to divide the parts more finely and bring 

 thereby in closer union, or the pores must bn 

 ed with a substance of mure minute partsi 

 question then arises — what mode of cultun 

 likely to produce the desired eftijct,. and tb« 

 to render it productive .' 



Four different methods have been |)ursu« 

 different cultivators ; these are, paring and ' 

 ing — covering witli sand or gravel — ploU{| 

 and cultivating with fallow crops, and what is< 

 ed bogging, which consists in turning ove( ' 

 turf or sward with the hoe or phuigh, and] " 

 spreading on a light top dressing of loam or I " 

 post. Each of these methods has its resprt ^ 

 advocates. '•' 



On the strbject of parting ami burning, wi' '' 

 have expressed difl!erent and opposite opinioi 

 Some of them strongly recommend the piai !• 

 and others asdecidedly condemn it. Wiiilei ^ 

 contradictory opinions and results serve r.illi * 

 distract than to enlighten the practical fin iiiCi j^ 

 ran find but little, from an observation of tb 

 periments wliicli have fallen under onr 

 spection, to enable us to come to a sati; 

 conclusion as to its beneficial or injurious 

 A neighbor of mine,* ten years ago, pai 

 burned about three acres of peat meado 

 ajid sowed it down with Rye and IJerd' 

 seed. While the salts, contained in tin 

 continued to operate, which was for the t' 

 years, his crops were very good, — the thii 

 the' produce was greatly diminished, all 

 that time, it has remained but little bettei 

 dead, unproductive waste, yielding much 

 before burning and of no better qual' 

 unfavorable result in this case, liad the 

 prevent a repetition of the experiment b, 

 the nciirhboring farmers. 



* The late Dr Whitcoinb. 



To be concluded 



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